Blue, Red, Black

“We have plenty of time,” the staticky voice echoed through the earpiece Reid wore. “You can calm down.”

“I know we have time, Laurel,” Reid replied. “It’s easy for you to say though. You get to sit in the car, happy and safe while I’m here risking my life to get these jewels.”

“You aren’t risking your life, you drama queen.” Even if he couldn’t see her face, Reid could feel Laurel rolling her eyes at him. “Besides, I’m the only one who knows you’re there. You got past three guards, and you’ve dealt with far more in the past.” 

He supposed that was true. This job was much easier than ones they’d done in the past. Reid was to sneak into a museum, steal a few priceless necklaces, and leave. All Laurel had to do was wipe any security footage he was spotted on, and she was flawless when it came to anything technological. 

Even if he knew everything would be fine, he could never shake the paranoia that always seemed to swarm any heist. The quick glances over his shoulder as phantom footsteps sounded behind him. No matter how much you trusted someone to watch the cameras and tell you if someone was coming, the eerie silence that filled the museum always pounded in his ears like sirens.

Shit, those are real sirens, Reid realized as he started towards the nearest door. He bolted, zig-zagging down hallways as quietly as he could. He had gotten the necklaces already, luckily, but would have preferred not to be chased out by law enforcement. 

“Laurel?” He breathed heavily, tapping his earpiece to make sure it was working. “Laurel, are you there?”

His hurried whispers were only met with a calm static. He could hear voices as he neared the door, pressing against a wall as he made sure there were no footsteps coming closer.

It was moments like these when Reid was reminded why he stopped doing solo missions after he met Laurel. Having someone watching your back from a camera was far more comforting when they were on your side. Without the overhead eyes he had grown accustomed to, it was nerve-wracking trying to navigate the no longer silent museum.

Someone attempted to pull on the doors that acted as the only barrier between Reid and jail, but the automatic locking system Laurel had previously disabled appeared to be back in place. Reid let out a sigh of relief. She always did manage to take care of everything.

The voices began fading as, Reid assumed, they started to circle the building to check for unlocked doors per protocol. Reid had committed their routine to memory, first was a round for signs of disturbance, then a quick sweep of the internal premises, and then they went about their business, hardly even looking close enough to discover the missing necklaces until morning. Or to see a stealthy, dark figure dash from the doors and into a nearby parked car. 

“What happened in there? The police showed up! Did you not see them on the scanner?” Reid tried to keep his voice even, despite the fact that his heart was practically in his throat due to panic. 

“I’m sorry!” Laurel exclaimed as she put the car into gear, driving away from the museum as fast as possible. “All my connections just dropped for a minute there, I couldn’t access anything.”

“But you did manage to wipe the security footage, right?” 

She nodded, her eyes locked on the road ahead of them. “Do you think so little of me?”

“I just had to make sure,” Reid said, his breathing finally started to steady as the adrenaline of the heist started to wear off. “I got too much money on my head to afford mistakes.”

He jokingly took a one hundred dollar bill from the center console, setting it on his head as he grinned at Laurel. She gave him an exasperated look, swiping it off and putting it back before turning back to the road.

“You’re probably right, one hundred dollars is just silly. It’s definitely far more money on the wanted posters I keep seeing around town.”

“Don’t be so cocky,” Laurel chastised. “You wouldn’t be anywhere without me.”

It was thoroughly true, but something Reid would only ever admit in front of her. He needed Laurel for far more than heists, but sometimes it was easier to pretend it was only for the jobs. Tonight was no different. It wasn't the first time they had stolen. It wasn't the first time they ran from the cops. It wasn't the first time Reid assumed Laurel tried to figure out what had gotten her into such a position. How a simple first date could lead to a life of crime.

But sometimes the 'why' didn't really matter. All that mattered was they were in it together.

Reid glanced up at the rearview mirror, looking at the museum left in the distance with flashing red and blue lights surrounding. There was always something so satisfying about driving away from total chaos he created.

It took him a moment to realize the lights were getting brighter, growing closer as the car started to slow down with the ease of Laurel’s adrenaline.

“Laurel, turn here,” Reid said, keeping one eye on the side view mirrors. The car went past the road Reid had gestured to. “Laurel, turn!” he shouted as another road came into sight.

Laurel pulled the car over to the side of the road, turning her head down towards the steering wheel. In the darkness of the night Reid realized he had hardly been able to see her face. Now it was painted in red and blue, reflecting in odd colors against her blue irises and bloodshot eyes.

“I made a deal,” she said lowly, her knuckles white as she gripped onto the steering wheel.

“What—what kind of deal?” Reid asked hurriedly. “What are you talking about?”

Laurel looked up slowly, meeting Reid’s eyes for the first time. “You were right. You have a lot of money on your head.”

“What do you mean? I thought we were in this together, we were—” He glanced back to see two men step out of a police car and start to advance towards them. “Oh.”

The whole night he could have figured something was wrong. There were so many signs his adrenaline had let him gaze right over, things he would have noticed around anyone else. But this was Laurel. The only person in the world he could trust. He thought he could trust.

“Your connection didn’t cut, did it?” Laurel didn’t answer, slowly opening the car door and raising her hands above her head. Reid followed her actions, shouting over the sirens surrounding them. “Even if it did, you would always have some sort of back-up.”

No one paid any mind to Laurel, despite the fact that she looked even more guilty than Reid imagined he did.

“You don’t have anything on me,” Reid told the police as he had his arms handcuffed behind his back. “Search the car if you want, you won’t find any evidence.”

He had already made sure to hide the necklaces in a secret compartment the cops always glazed over. Reid learned to work through the unexpected to make sure everything could be expected.

Even so, Laurel was unexpected. And that was terrifying.

“You won’t find any trace in the museum,” Reid continued to brag, noticing the way Laurel was playing with the bracelet he had gotten her years ago, as she always did when she was hiding something. “Unless—you didn’t wipe the cameras.”

He spoke slowly, wishing it could come out as a question instead of a statement. Laurel would shake her head and insist she did, tell him that everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about. But instead she stared at her feet.

“You’re good, I’ll give you that. You—you—”

It all sounded like something he would do. Not ever to her, but that was what made it even better. Something no one would ever expect.

No matter how much you trusted someone to watch your back, they could always stab it instead. And that made Reid want to hate Laurel. He should absolutely despise her. But he would always love her first.

“We were never going to make it, were we?” He asked as he was being dragged towards the police car, Laurel taking a few steps towards him before stopping herself.

She raised her head, her eyes going cold as she shook her head slowly. “No. You were never going to make it.”

The door slammed shut.